Sunda team to open Earth & Ocean in Mount Prospect

The founding chef of Sunda and two other alums of the “new Asian” restaurant are teaming up again to launch a new dining destination in the revamped Randhurst Village in Mount Prospect.

Earth & Ocean, opening February 2013, will be the beginning of the E&O Food & Drink restaurant project, with chef Rodelio Aglibot, Aeron Lancero and Paul Lee at the helm.

"We're trying to create a city style and vibe with a broadened new American menu," Mr. Aglibot told Chicago Eater. "It'll have Asian and Italian influences and good old American influences, but we want it to be sensitive to families and price points."

They're still playing with the menu (we first heard about Earth & Ocean last week, when we received an invite to a private pre-opening tasting), but it'll have small plates with a house sausage trio and chicken wings with dried shrimp and chili dust. Entrees will range from steaks to adobo-style pork belly and cheek. Eater reports the restaurant will also have a sushi bar and a raw bar.

Dishes will range from $9 to $14 at lunch and $28 to $35 at dinner. Chicago-based Gary Lee Partners is designing the room, which will seat up to 170 people, with space for an additional 70 on a patio.

Mr. Aglibot says the three partners are looking for more downtown and suburb locations to continue the E&O Food & Drink project and will have several pop-up tastings around the suburbs in the near future.